The present invention relates to devices for training and practicing the sport game of lacrosse. More particularly, this invention relates to a lacrosse training device for use by a lacrosse player to practice checking an offensive player.
Lacrosse is a spring and summer team sport of Native American origin played with netted sticks called crosses. The world's first official game was played at patrician Upper Canada College in 1867. Today, lacrosse is played internationally as a 12 person per side game for women and as a 10 person per side game for men with differences in playing rules and equipments. The field of play is approximately 110 yards (100 m) long and 40 yards (37 m) wide. The goals are 6 feet (1.8 m) by 6 feet and contain a mesh netting similar to an ice hockey goal. The principle of the game is to project a small solid rubber ball into the opposing team's goal with a crosse (lacrosse stick) which is usually made of wood with a shaped net pocket at the end.
The players on a team each carry a crosse, and are arranged by position as offensive players called “attackmen”, “midfielders” or “middies”, “defensemen”, and a single goaltender, or “goalie.” The attackman's responsibility is to score goals. Players scoop the ball off the ground and hurl the ball in the air to other players. Players are allowed to run carrying the ball with their stick. In men's lacrosse, players may kick the ball, as well as cover it with their sticks. Play is typically quite fast, and resembles a combination of soccer, basketball and field hockey. Players are permitted to hit one another with their bodies and sticks, although some rules govern the manner in which this may be done. Therefore players are protected by wearing helmets and heavy padded gloves.
Lacrosse players need to master several different skills to compete in the game such as:                Catching and cradling—holding the ball in the stick pocket;        Cutting—a movement by an offensive player without the ball toward the opponent's goal, in anticipation of a feed and shot;        Feeding and passing—passing the ball to a teammate who is in position for a shot on goal;        Scooping—an act of picking up a loose ball with the crosse;        Screening, Shooting, etc; and most importantly        Checking, a defensive technique in which a series of short, sharp, controlled strikes to an opponent's stick is used to force a player carrying the ball to drop it. There are different types of checking such as Poke Check—a stick check in which the player pokes the head of his stick at an opponent's stick through the top hand by pushing with the bottom hand, Slap Check—a stick check in which a player slaps the head of his stick against his opponent's stick and Wrap Check—a one-handed check in which the defender swings his stick around his opponent's body to dislodge the ball.        
There are no available training devices in the market specially designed for lacrosse checking skills practice. Coaches and players usually resort to the traditional one-on-one checking practice where one player acts as an opponent holding the ball in his/her crosse pocket while the other player tries to dislodge the ball. The key problem of this method is that individual practice is impossible.
During checking moves, opposing players usually engage in a “reverse” tug-of-war situation where each player is trying to fend off the other by pushing against the other. In order to increase strength and stamina, some players use sleds that are designed for football practice. However, these sleds are not designed for lacrosse training and henceforth are not very effective.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a lacrosse training device for use by a single player to practice checking an offensive player, i.e. for use with or without a partner. Further, it would be desirable to have a lacrosse training device that simulates random movement of a lacrosse stick of an offensive player. In addition, it would be desirable to have a lacrosse training device in which the user may adjust its height, the length of the arm, the weight of the base, and may activate the arm's movement when ready.